Delhi Police in Noida have arrested a man from West Bengal previously questioned in a recruitment corruption case for allegedly running a fake police station to extort money, officials said on Sunday. Bibhas Adhikari, a former local leader in Birbhum district with past links to the ruling Trinamul Congress party, was detained along with his son, Arghya, and four associates in a raid late on Saturday in Sector 70, police said. Officers seized three mobile phones, multiple bank cheque books, 16 rubber stamps, nine identity cards, visiting cards, official letterheads, several ATM cards and Rs 42,300 in cash. They also recovered forged documents allegedly bearing the names of central government ministries, as well as claims of links to Interpol and the International Human Rights Commission. Police allege the group set up an office under the name “International Police and Crime Investigation” and put up a board resembling that of a police station about 10 days ago. The suspects posed as government officials and used fake IDs to threaten and defraud people, said Noida Deputy Commissioner of Police Shakti Mohan Avasthy. Adhikari, once close to jailed Trinamul strongman Anubrata Mondal, had been questioned multiple times by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a teachers’ recruitment scam that led to the arrest of former state education minister Partha Chatterjee and former primary education board chairman Manik Bhattacharya.

The other arrested men were identified as Babulu Chandra Mondal, Pintu Pal, Samapad Mal and Ashish Kumar, all from West Bengal. The suspects have been remanded in judicial custody and face charges under the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act.